Should we fight the future? Can we?

[Aimless]

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...killer-robots/

More and more is being written on this subject as the spectre of more-or-less fully autonomous weapons looms ever closer. Although we've long been able to imagine what a world with autonomous weapons might look like--typically focusing on the most dystopian scenarios--we've never really managed to get to the point of working out a plan for how to survive in that world. This is no longer science fiction--autonomous weapons are likely to become a reality in our lifetimes, perhaps even if we do decide not to open that door and instead just pretend to be satisfied with semi-autonomous weapons.

Can we prevent them? Should we?

And how long will it be before Skynet takes out Elon Musk?

The linked article is just to get the discussion started, there are obviously much more in-depth articles out there.

[RandBlade]

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/s...20170821134325

[Aimless]

Yes, that was definitely one of the articles I was thinking of.

Here are some others:

Machines with guns: debating the future of autonomous weapons systems:
http://theconversation.com/machines-...-systems-39795

Law and Ethics for Autonomous Weapon Systems: Why a Ban Won't Work and How the Laws of War Can
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=2250126

"Out of the Loop": Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Law of Armed Conflict:
http://harvardnsj.org/wp-content/upl...t-Thurnher.pdf

At War with the Robots: Autonomous Weapon Systems and the Martens Clause:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=2347661

Future Warfare and the Decline of Human Decisionmaking:
http://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pubs/p...nter/adams.htm

The Future of Military Virtue: Autonomous Systems and the Moral Deskilling of the Military
https://ccdcoe.org/cycon/2013/procee...s10_vallor.pdf

The Dehumanization of International Humanitarian Law: Legal, Ethical, and Political Implications of Autonomous Weapon Systems
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=2541628

Lethal Autonomous Weapons andJus ad Bellum Proportionality:
http://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu...06&context=jil

The International-Law Dimension of Autonomous Weapons Systems:
http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id/ipa/11673.pdf

Autonomous Weapons Systems: Taking the Human Out of International Humanitarian Law:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=2290995

Autonomous Weapons Systems: A Coming Legal 'Singularity'?
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=2037808

The Debate Over Autonomous Weapons Systems:
http://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu...05&context=jil

[EyeKhan]

<snip>
Can we prevent them?

I very much doubt it, almost to the point of betting on a flat out "no."

Should we?

Knee jerk says yes. But reasoned response says I'm not completely sure.

And how long will it be before Skynet takes out Elon Musk?

I think even a fully realized AI will not accidentally become a paranoid, genocidal Apocalypse Mind, taking over all the networked hardware of human civilization and killing us with it. Unless someone specifically creates it to be that.